Hail all you C gurus! I've got a slight pointer mess I really need some help on, namely how to declare a variable as a non-constant pointer to an array of constant pointers to constant characters. Basically a variable declaration for targv as follows: (const char**)(non-const)*targv; See the problem? I have the following variable: const char **argv; and need to assign the address of it to another pointer: targv = &argv where the actual pointer targv is NOT constant. ie it must be possible to increment targv (targv++), after which it should point to the address of the second string in argv. The reason I need targv at all is that I want to pass its address (&targv) to a function, which can increment targv, although it can't make changes to the strings themselves. That allows me to call two such functions in a row, with the second function continuing where the first left off. Confused yet? If not, I'm sure you can help me out, 'cause I'm confused myself ;) Oh, btw, yes, I'm sure there are other ways to tackle the problem in general, but I'm curious if this is doable in plain old c the way I described it. If you want me to further explain some part of the above, please ask! Thanks in advance for any help! Zen

char* [pointer to a char]
const char* [pointer to a const char]
char* const [const pointer to a char]
const char* const [const pointer to a const char]
const char* const* const* ....

Now, I'm not exactly sure what you wan't, but this code is legal.
const char** p;
const char*** ptr;
ptr = &p
ptr++;
ptr--;
*ptr = p;

Hope that helps.

Awesome call on the typedef thing!
I knew I was forgetting something basic.
Thanks a bunch!
Zen

"non-constant pointer to an array of constant pointers to constant characters"

Let's break that down.

const char x; // A constant character; easy enough
const char *x; // A non-constant pointer to a constant character
const char * const x; // A constant pointer to a constant character
const char * const * x; // A non-constant pointer to an array of (or possibly just 1) constant pointers to a constant character

If you said exactly what you wanted, then that last line is what you want.

Quote:Original post by Aprosenf
"non-constant pointer to an array of constant pointers to constant characters"

Let's break that down.

const char x; // A constant character; easy enough
const char *x; // A non-constant pointer to a constant character
const char * const x; // A constant pointer to a constant character
const char * const * x; // A non-constant pointer to an array of (or possibly just 1) constant pointers to a constant character

If you said exactly what you wanted, then that last line is what you want.

Hehe, constant character_s_ actually meant strings (ie char*), but close enough ;) I think I'll go with Tazzle's excellent suggestion of typedeffing it.
Just to save me another headache if I ever look at this code again in a few weeks.

For no good reason: the way I see it the next level of indirection (the one I want) would be:


const char const * * x; // A non-constant pointer to an array of constant pointers to an array of constant characters

If I made a mistake in there somewhere, please correct me.
Thanks!
Zen

Edit: Hope that fixes it...
Edit 2: Maybe now?